PineClan Book 1
by Smokepaws
Summary: (Posted on a03 as well) While the seasons and leaders fade and are replaced, PineClan finds themselves in a rather bad spot. But, will the new cats in charge steer them clear of danger, or send them spiraling into the darkness that may await? (CW: homophobia) (FIXED THE ERROR WHERE IT SHOWED ONLY CODE)
1. Allegiances

PineClan

Leader: Duststar, a light brown tabby she-cat with a graying muzzle.

Deputy: Emberstorm, a bright ginger tabby she-cat.

Medicine Cat: Willowjaw, a pale silver tabby tom. (Apprentice: Cloverpaw)

Warriors: Nightbriar, a dark brown tabby tom.

Mosslight, a gray she-cat.

Honeythorn, a tortoiseshell she-cat with white paws.

Owlspeckle, a mottled brown tom. (Apprentice: Weaselpaw)

Cinderdawn, a dark gray tom. (Apprentice: Ravenpaw)

Silvermist, a very pale gray tabby she-cat.

Apprentices: Weaselpaw, a tan tabby tom.

Ravenpaw, a black and white cat.

Cloverpaw, a creamy brown tabby she cat.

Queens: Frostwhisker, a long-furred white she-cat. (Kits: Duckkit and Splashkit)

Foxstream, a sandy brown tabby she-cat.

Elders: Blossomfur, a cream she-cat blind with age.

OakClan

Leader: Featherstar, a silver tabby she-cat.

Deputy: Darkwing, a black tom.

Medicine Cat: Leafstream, a dappled gray she-cat. (Apprentice: Shinepaw)

Warriors: Goldenfur, a ginger tabby she-cat. (Apprentice: Spottedpaw)

Brackenpelt, a brown tabby tom.

Mousefoot, a gray and white tom.

Appletail, a gray-brown tabby she-cat.

Duskclaw, a gray tabby tom.

Thornfang, a light gray tabby she-cat.

Barkfur, a brown tabby she-cat.

Flamenose, a light brown tabby she-cat.

Apprentices: Shinepaw, a white tom.

Spottedpaw, a mottled gray she-cat.

Queens: Dapplefall, a pale ginger she-cat.

Elders: Fernear, a black and white tom.

Bramble, a gray tom who used to be a loner.

BirchClan

Leader: Flintstar, a gray tabby tom.

Deputy: Foxfoot, a light brown tom.

Medicine Cat: Berrypool, a cream tabby she-cat.

Warriors: Dewleaf, a pale gray she-cat.

Dawngaze, a gray and white tabby tom with unusual eyes. (Apprentice: Toadpaw)

Cloudwhisker, a brown and white she-cat.

Briarsong, a dark brown tabby she-cat.

Spiderflight, a black tom.

Pebblewing, a silver tabby tom.

Addernose, a gray she cat. (Apprentice: Grasspaw)

Pricklefur, a ginger tabby tom.

Marigoldpelt, a pale ginger she-cat.

Dawnflash, a brown tabby she-cat.

Apprentices: Toadpaw, a dark gray tabby she-cat.

Grasspaw, a dark gray tom.

Queens: Mothtail, a golden tabby she-cat.

Elders: Tatteredfur, a gray tabby she-cat.

Other Cats

Zephyr, a silver tom.

Oliver, an orange tabby kittypet.

Lightningfang, a gray tom who was exiled from BirchClan.


	2. Prologue

A single leaf floats gently to the ground in the slowly increasing light, a sure sign greenleaf is coming to a close. A single form slips through the trees, hardly taking the time to make sure they aren't followed.

Finally, the cat reaches the destination, a clearing right along the stream, surrounded by dense bushes. They halt, sniffing the air, and all but jump out of their ginger fur when a twig snaps.

"Don't worry, it's just me," the newcomer spoke, stepping into the clearing and softly brushing their muzzle against the startled cat. "I'm sorry I scared you."

The ginger tabby returns the greeting, taking a moment to groom their fur back into place. "Its not your fault. I have to be on edge, you know we can't be seen."

The other cat flicked their tail in exasperation. "Who cares what they think?" After a moment, they continued in a soft, worried voice. "Unless you'd rather not meet like this anymore..."

"Of course I do, but you know it has to be a secret." The bright tabby gently replied.

A moment of silence passed, before the second cat spoke again. "I'm glad I got to see you again, but we have to leave before the others wake."

"I know, as much as I'd like to stay here with you..." They sighed, before continuing. "But I do have to go. Maybe tomorrow, if I can get away earlier, we can see eachother longer."

"I'll do my best. But for now, you have to leave." The cat stood up, rubbing their muzzle against the others one last time before moving to leave. At the edge of the bushes, they turned around. "Emberstorm?"

The ginger tabby, Emberstorm, looked at her companion, awaiting a response.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Emberstorm responded, before the other cat pushed through the bushes.

A twig snapped behind the ginger tabby. I hope that's a squirrel... Emberstorm thought with dread dragging down her paws as she all but ran back to the waking Clan.


	3. Chapter 1

A moss ball rolled out of the well-sheltered nursery, followed by two gray balls of fluff. Duckkit raced just behind her sister, Splashkit, as the two followed the moss. Reaching the ball first, Splashkit barely had time to mew victoriously before the darker kit caught up, knocking her off of her feet. Duckkit managed to snatch the moss ball and began to dash off, before running right into a much larger brown tabby.

"Sorry!" Duckkit squeaked nervously, backing away.

Nightbriar chuckled. "It's quite alright, Duckkit. You aren't the first cat to have run into me, and you certainly aren't the largest." He purred, retrieving the dropped moss ball and returning it to the kits. Splashkit perked up immediately, snatching the ball before her sister could react, trotting off towards the nursery.

Duckkit began to follow, before Frostwhisker exited the nursery and scooped the two up. "Now I told you two to not get too messy, you don't want to leave a bad impression on your future mentors!" She chided gently, affectionately grooming the two. The white she-cat ignored their mewls of protest, determined to get the two clean, as the kittens excitedly guessed at who their mentors would be.

"I would hate to be Nightbriar's apprentice, he's so big and scary!" Splashkit whispered loudly, accepting her fate of being cleaned and letting the white queen groom her.

Duckkit shook her head. "He might be big, but at least Willowjaw already has an apprentice, he's so grumpy..." The gray she-kit trailed off, thinking back to her first- and last- adventure in the medicine den, where Willowjaw chased her out of his herb stock with a threat to put fire ants in her nest. She had been too scared to sleep in her own nest for 3 nights, instead sleeping on top of her mother or sister. That is, until they got tired of being kicked in the ears all night.

Splashkit snorted at Duckkit's reaction. "You're just lucky he couldn't find any fire ants!"

Duckkit huffed at her sister, turning to leave before Frostwhisker pulled her back. "Not so fast, dear, I still have to clean you too." She ignored the kit's complaints, focusing instead on cleaning her messy fur.

"Well, Emberstorm would be a cool mentor, but it'd be really hard being the deputy's apprentice. I'd be too scared to mess up." Splashkit resumed their discussion, laying in the sun since she was no longer the object of her mother's attention.

"Honeythorn would be a great mentor, but she already had an apprentice just a few moons ago, so I don't think she'd be picked." Duckkit replied.

"Well, no matter who your mentor is, I'm sure you'll both do great." Frostwhisker gently spoke, satisfied with her work. She stood up and shook herself, padding back into the nursery. "Stay out of trouble now!"

Duckkit and Splashkit mewed their promises, dashing off to find a new moss ball. Duckkit poked her nose into some bushes, searching for some scraps of moss, and was about to retreat when she heard hushed voices.

"-wouldn't want anyone finding out about your-" The rest was too quiet to hear, and she couldn't quite catch the response. Duckkit pulled away from the bushes, trying to figure out who was talking, as she went to find her sister.

Finally, it clicked in her mind who the voice was. That had to have been Willowjaw! She thought, then turned her attention away. It's not like it matters to me, though. He's a medicine cat, he's probably doing some top-secret stuff.


	4. Chapter 2

Duckkit woke up just before the sun rose, too antsy to sleep. The day before, she 'accidentally' overheard Duststar informing Frostwhisker that her kits' were to be apprenticed "any day now", and consequently was too excited to do much but bounce around all day, much to the annoyance of her denmates.

Splashkit must have felt her stirring, as soon enough Duckkit got a soft kick and a sleepy mumble to "go back to sleep, you furball."

Excited as she was, the kitten's previous bouncing certainly took a lot of energy, so she rested her head back on her paws and let herself drift back to sleep.

Duckkit's eyes opened in a strange forest, dark and confusing. She looked overhead to see the silhouettes of twisted branches, too thick to see through.

The air was still, and all around her she could hear the cries of battle, but not a single cat could be seen. This unfamiliar forest was cold and terrifying for such a young cat, but as an almost apprentice, Duckkit tried to be brave. She tried in vain to see around her, but the brush was simply too thick.

Suddenly, the fighting stopped, replaced with an even worse silence. A single, mournful yowl split the silence, and faded into the distance.

Duckkit shivered in fear, pressing her body closer to the ground. She could just barely make out a single voice through the eerie forest.

"StarClan, you have allowed your cats to kill in your name! You have to stop this, show us you care!" The voice yowled, grief evident in the sound, before the ground lurched underneath Duckkit's paws.

Duckkit woke with a start, fur on end as the gray kitten glanced around. No traces remained of the mysterious fight, just the soft smells and warmth of the nursery. She relaxed, sitting up and beginning to wash herself. It was only a bad dream...

The rest of the clan had been awake for quite some time, and Duckkit's own denmates were already awake and had left Duckkit to sleep. The kit finished her hasty grooming and bounded out of the den, letting herself forget the night's events.

Splashkit was idly batting at a ball of moss near the center of camp, no doubt trying to contain her own excitement at the idea of apprenticeship. As Duckkit ran clumsily over, Splashkit turned around and pricked her ears. "Took you long enough to wake up, sleepyhead! Told you you should've went to bed earlier." She teased lightly, tossing the moss ball in the direction of her approaching sister.

Duckkit caught the moss ball, proudly knocking it back. "Real warriors stay up late to guard the clan!" she shot back, settling next to the lighter kit. She looked up just in time to see Foxstream exit Duststar's den, hurriedly pacing towards the medicine den. On her way, she stopped momentarily to talk quietly to Emberstorm, who had returned from patrol.

Once the exchange was finished, Emberstorm began to pad over to Duststar's den, only to be stopped by Duckkit and Splashkit.

"Emberstorm, do you know when Duststar is going to start the apprentice ceremony?" Splashkit asked eagerl

The deputy shuffled her paws. "I'm sorry," She began. "But I'm afraid your apprenticeship is going to have to wait. Duststar has fallen ill."


	5. Chapter 3

"But what about our apprentice ceremony?" Splashkit asked, devastated.

"I'm sorry, Splashkit," Emberstorm sighed, "But Duststar's health is more important. I promise you, if I have time, I'll think about your mentorship, and I'm sure once Duststar is feeling better she will agree to do the ceremony as soon as possible."

Splashkit studied her paws, trying to not look as disappointed. "We understand, Emberstorm."

Emberstorm nodded, relieved, and continued on her way to Duststar's den.

Once out of sight inside the shallow cave, Emberstorm quietly made her way over to Foxstream. "Is it really that bad?" She whispered, trying to avoid waking the sick cat.

Foxstream's tail flicked as she took a moment to choose her words. "We won't truly know until Willowjaw gets here, but it doesn't seem good. She's feverish, and hasn't eaten well..." She trailed off, distraught.

"But, she still has 2 lives left, doesn't she? I'm sure she'll be fine." Emberstorm tried to assure the brown she-cat, but Foxstream's silence spoke more than words could. It was evident Duststar wasn't entirely truthful on her amount of lives left, but she couldn't blame her. No cat would want to show such weakness to any cat, let alone the one who would take her rank in the event of her demise.

Emberstorm stood, pressing her muzzle briefly to Duststar's barely-moving flank, before leaving the silent den.

The sun had just set when Emberstorm reached their meeting place. It was risky to see each other this early, but she was too worried to wait. The ginger tabby paced the clearing, impatiently waiting for the other cat to show up.

The bushes rustled, causing Emberstorm to prick her ears nervously, but relaxed as soon as she recognized the arriving cat. "I-I'm sorry to make you come so early, but I just couldn't wait.." She started explaining, but was silenced by an affectionate nuzzle.

"I'm always glad to see you, it doesn't matter that it's early." The other cat responded.

"It's just, Duststar is sick, and if she d- if she isn't leader, that means I have to be..." Emberstorm shuffled her paws, visibly upset.

"But what's wrong with that?"

"It'd be harder to leave camp, and that means I wouldn't be able to see you..." She sighed. "And what if they find out about us? They'd cast me out, just like Lightningfang, and I just-" Emberstorm was silenced by a flick to the ear.

"They won't find out, we'll be okay. And Duststar will be just fine." The second cat murmured, "But if it makes you feel better, we could try meeting less often."

Emberstorm shook her head quickly. "That'd be even worse, my dear."

"Then we'll figure it out. We have to leave now, but I'll see you again soon."

After a final nuzzle of farewell, the two cats went on separate paths back to camp. But unknown to them, the two weren't alone.


	6. Chapter 4

Duststar faded fast. As her life ebbed, so did the snows of leafbare.

Exhausted, Duststar pulled herself to the entrance and informed Mosslight, the posted guard, to fetch her deputy. When the ginger tabby arrived, her fur was covered in herb dust.

"I-I was helping Willowjaw," Emberstorm stuttered, "We were looking for herbs to help you get better."

Duststar flicked her tail. "Honeythorn was helping him." She started, but waved her tail as if dismissing the conversation. "But that's not why I needed you. Its been far too long and-" She was cut off by a raspy cough. "Its time for those fuzzballs to become apprentices and stop getting under everyone's paws." She huffed, as if just talking was too much.

"Have you decided their mentors?" Emberstorm prompted, thoughts flicking towards the possibility of mentoring one of the two. They were fine kits, and surely would make great warriors. If their mentors can handle them, She thought to herself.

Duststar nodded. "I'd like Nightbriar to mentor Duckkit. He is a great mentor with the patience for her. And I want you to mentor Splashkit." She finished, beginning to clean her paws.

Emberstorm became visibly excited. Splashkit had a lot of potential, even if she would be hard to keep in line. She cleared her thoughts and nodded to her leader. "Since you called me here, I assume that isn't all."

Duststar sighed. "You've been my deputy for too long, you know me too well. I'm too tired to get on that rock, and I'd like you to call the meeting. I'd like to do at least this much before I join our friends above."

The ginger she stiffened. Surely our beloved leader has more lives than this!


End file.
